Potato-seed cutter.



E. POWELL.

POTATO SEED GUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 29, 1911.

Patented June 3, 1913.

1,063,21&

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0,. WASHINGTON, n. c.

NTT

ornien EDWIN POWELL, OF EMMA, COLORADO.

POTATO-SEED CUTTER.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWIN POWELL, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at Emma, in the county of Pitkin, State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Potato-Seed Cutters; and i do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in potato seed cutters.

In carrying out my invention it is my purpose to provide a seed cutter embrac ing, among other features, a base plate provided with indicating marks, and a lever pivotally connected to one end of this base plate, said lever having an elongated opening therethrough which is spanned or bridged by peculiarly arranged cutting blades designed when the lever is swung against the base plate, as in the operation of cutting a potato, to register with the in dicating marks on the plate.

Still a further object of my invention is the provision of a simple, eflicient and con venient cutter having the cutting knives located in the lever in such manner that the work or cutting operation may be at all times observed by the operator.

With the above recited objects and others of a similar nature in view my invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts set forth in and falling within the scope of the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a machine em bodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Referring to the accompanying drawings by similar characters of reference, the numeral 10 designates generally my improved device which is mounted on a stand or suitable support 11, consisting of parallel side bars 12 connected at their opposite ends by end rails 13 and mounted upon outwardly diverging legs 14. A trough 15 is secured under one of the end rails 13 and slants downwardly beyond the opposite end rail terminating in a reduced chute 16 for engagement with a receiving receptacle 17.

A bed plate 18 is detachably secured in any suitable manner upon the upper end of the stand or support 10 and is provided with an intermediate opening 19 and at one Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 29, 1911.

Patented June 3, 1913. Serial No. 646,627.

end with a similar shaped opening 20. The opening 20 is provided at its opposite ends with recesses 21 in which are secured the terminals of a longitudinally extending cutting knife 22. This knife 22 is provided with a plurality of transversely extending grooves 23 formed in its upper face for en gagement with grooves formed in the lower faces of a plurality of transversely extending knife blades 25. The upper edges of the blades 22 and 25 lie flush with each other, while the outer terminals of the said blades 25 are located in grooves 26 formed in the opposite side edges of the opening 20. A lever 27, which is substantially the same width as the opening 20, is hinged as at 28 to a block 29 secured to the base plate 18 at one end of the opening 20. This lever 27 is provided with a hand grip 30 by means of which the same may be forced into contact with the upper edge of the knife blades 22 and 25 for the purpose of forcing the potato through the said opening 20, at the same time severing it into a number of parts equal to the spaces between the edges of the opening 20 and the knife blades 22 and 25. A cutting block 31 is secured upon the oppo site side of the opening 19 and has hinged to one end as indicated by the numeral 32 an operating lever 33. This lever 33 is substantially the same size as the block 31 and has formed upon one end a hand grip 34 by the means of which the said lever may be forced into engagement with the cutting block 31. The lever 34 is provided with a longitudinally extending substantially rec tangular shaped opening 35 which is provided at one end and at its opposite sides with grooves 36 in which grooves are located a plurality of knife blades, one of which is designated by the numeral 37 extends longitudinally substantially half way of the opening 35, at which point it is provided with a pair of diverging blades 38, the terminals of which are secured in a pair of openings 36. The blade 37 is provided at its lower edge with a recess 39 in which is located a recessed transversely extending blade 40, the terminals of which are secured in another pair of the grooves or recesses 36. The lower faces of the blades lie flush with each other, while in order to preventthe displacement of the diverging blades 38 and the longitudinally extending blade 37, the intermediate portion or juncture of the said diverging blades 38 is provided in its point 42 on the block 31 the potato will be cut into two parts, when the said potato is placed upon the point 43 the same will be severed into three parts and when the same is placed upon the point 44 it will be divided into four parts.

A stationary knife 45 extends vertically from one side of the base 18 to provide a means whereby the potato to be cut may be divided into halves, thus producing a fiat I 1 its apex projecting toward the center of the opening, and a longitudinal blade secured at one end within the end notch of the elonface for engagement either with the knives 22 and 25 or the cutting block 31. When the potatoes are cut by means of the lever 27 they will be forced through the opening 20 into the chute 15 and when they are severed by means of the lever 33 they may be dropped through the opening 19 by pushing them over the cutting block 31 in that direction, through which opening they will drop into the said chute 15 from which they will be directed into the receiving receptacle 17. The potatoes which are cut by means of the knife 45 may be dropped in the trough 15 through the opening 19 formed in the bed plate 18.

From the foregoing disclosures taken in connection with the accompanying drawings it will be manifest that a potato seed cutter is provided for which will fulfil all of the necessary requirements of such a device.

Having thus fully described this invention, what I claim as new and desire to obtain by Letters Patent, is:

In a potato seed cutter, the combination with a support and a bed plate carried thereby, of a plate mounted on the bed plate and provided with indicating marks, a lever pivoted at one end to the plate, said lever having an elongated opening therethrough and notches at the sides and at one end of the opening, a transverse blade extending across the opening adjacent one and thereof and secured within certain of the side notches, a V-shaped blade secured at its ends within certain other of the side notches and having gated opening and having its opposite end portion seated in a groove at the apex of the V-shaped blade and offset to lie against the inner face of one side of the /-shaped EDWIN POWELL.

\Vitnesses S. H. FINLEY, lV. L. ATKINSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C. 

